Every year, on the first Thursday of August, people take part in Cycle to Work Day. This event encourages commuters to swap their cars and public transport for bicycles. This year Cycle to Work Day will take place on Thursday 1 of August 2024.
Malcolm Margolis, has been a strong advocate in the Harrogate area for many years:
I didn’t really cycle as a child, but cycled from university, and regularly since I retired. I use it as my main form of transport, but do also have a car.
There are just so many benefits in cycling to work. Financially it is a lot cheaper than taking a car.
For short journeys it makes so much more sense, you don’t need to worry about parking, finding a space, and then the cost of that.
It’s good for your health too, you arrive feeling refreshed, and you have got in some exercise, as we often don’t get enough exercise when you spend most of the day sitting while at work.
It’s interesting how many people drive short distances, even to the gym!
The other benefit for me, as an environmental campaigner, is the environmental benefit. I see cycling as a major part of solution to the enormous environmental crisis.
I think the bicycle is one-of, if not the best invention ever made, and now with the invention of the electric bike, hills are no longer a problem.
The potential for cycling to be transformative of society is enormous, and I have seen that elsewhere. I have seen it in the Netherlands, and in Scandinavia cycling was the normal mode of travel, as it is for me, locally.
For many people, who would like to cycle, they don’t do it, due to the perceived risk. That can be old people and young people. So when they say there isn’t much demand for cycling, and that it is only 2% of the local journeys, and there is no demand – that is absolutely untrue, the demand is there.
What we desperately need is s a first class cycling infrastructure. We thought that when the Nidderdale Greenway was open was the start of change, and then the Tour de France, with many people saying it would create a legacy of cycling infrastructure. Unfortunately it just hasn’t happened. There has been a lot of talk, but a failure to delivery [deliver] any good quality cycle infrastructure.
Cllr Arnold Warneken, Green Party, said:
I totally support this initiative , encouraging employees to cycle to work can bring benefits to employer and employee.
Keeping healthy and keeping travel costs down are two benefits to employees and also making a difference to Climate Change at the same time, also often if cycleways are in place its quicker than driving, of course a slower option but equally beneficial is walking.
From an employers perspective a healthy workforce is better for morale and reduces the number of days of through sickness, employers can encourage this by paying a small bonus for using active travel as a means of getting to work , utilise schemes to subsidise purchasing a bike and provide secure bike storage areas.
